rating:
(out of
4 stars)United Kingdom; 1975
Directed by Stanley Kubrick; produced by Stanley Kubrick; screenplay by Stanley Kubrick
Starring Ryan O'Neal, Marisa Berenson, Patrick Magee, Hardy Kruger, Steven Berkoff, Gay Hamilton
Below you will find a temporary review for this film. The real (better, more complete) review will be online very soon.
In 'Barry Lyndon' the camera hardly ever moves, and when it does it moves
slowly with tracking shots. From time to time we have a close up, only to
let us see more clearly what is going on in the distance. What director
Stanley Kubrick does here is watch a character who is doomed from the moment
he falls in love with his cousin, making no secret of it since narrator
Michael Hordern informs us in the first couple of minutes of the film. The
narrator is as little attached to the characters as the camera; all they do
is to observe.
Of course this is exactly Kubrick's intention; Barry Lyndon's life is so
preordained you might as well let the narrator explain the events before
they happen so the attention can go to the images, carefully painted by the
director and its crew. The film begins with Part I, reading "By What Means
Redmond Barry Acquired the Style and Title of Barry Lyndon." The beautiful
opening shot shows us two man in a duel while the narrator explains to us
how Barry's father got killed there, even before it really happens. It is
this approach that continues.
Redmond Barry, played by a terrific Ryan O'Neal, falls in love with his
cousin Nora (Gay Hamilton) who returns his love only for a short moment of
time. She chooses a captain who is able to offer her a great life. Barry's
jealousy leads him into a duel with the captain (Leonard Rossiter) after
which he leaves home. We follow him through some fortunate events ending
with him acquiring the style and title of Barry Lyndon. Then Part II starts,
"Containing an Account of the Misfortunes and Disasters Which Befell Barry
Lyndon." Again, the title says exactly what will happen; unfortunate events
will follow.
This could be a reason for many film goers not to like this movie. On the
other hand there is so much to enjoy here. If film is a medium where the
images are the main thing of the art form 'Barry Lyndon' is close to as good
as it gets. Every image is like an oil painting from the time the story
plays. Although the story goes on for three hours it is hard to get bored
with such beauty before your eyes. Although it looks completely different,
'Girl with a Pearl Earring' is a newer film that also looked like a painting
(by Johannes Vermeer) in every single frame.
The O'Neal performances pretty important to make the film work as well. He
finds the perfect note to this complex character. The supporting cast,
especially Rossiter, does a pretty fine job ass well. Besides the images and
the performances we have another fine Stanley Kubrick direction. After his
greatest films including 'Paths of Glory', 'Dr. Strangelove' and '2001: A
Space Odyssey' he brings us this epic that could have been, I guess like
'2001', a complete failure. He succeeds admirably, giving us a film unlike
any other I have seen.